Review: Great Expectations
The book Great Expectations, authored by Charles Dickens mirrors the society during the Victorian era. The book provides a vivid description of what life was like during that age. Moreover, the author uses stylistic devices and language that are synonymous with the acclaimed writing style during that period in history. The thematic concerns addressed are also important pointers to the context of the text. This paper discusses how the book reflects the context and values of the nineteenth century from which it is set.
The writer makes use of a host of stylistic devices in the story to enhance the reading experience. As wordy as the story may get, the words are not wasted. They go a long way in supporting the text. The writer creates humor in the story through the characterization by using names such as Wopsle, Pumblechook, Startop. The author applies a little sophistication in the text by making paradoxical statements such as the time when Pip was trying to get his friends to aid him in his endeavor to exemplify himself as an uncommon person. He says that, “The felicitous idea occurred to me a morning or two later when I woke that the best step I could take towards making myself uncommon was to get out of Biddy everything she knew.” This is, in effect a paradox because he is trying to impress Estella by molding into a character he is not. The paradox in it is also idealized by the fact that he wants to use someone as common as any other to become uncommon. In a different context, Charles Dickens applies irony when Matthew goes to visit Miss Havisham. It is ironical that Camilla exclaims, “There’s Matthew!…never mixing with any natural ties, never coming here to see how Miss Havisham is”. In the real sense, Matthew really cared about Miss Havisham which is contrary to how Camilla actually portrays him. The author exploits his license through the application of parallelism in his statements. A perfect example is “In a most irritating manner he instantly slapped his hands against one another, daintily flung one of his legs up behind him (both phrases have adv, past tense verb, prepositional phrase), pulled my hair, slapped his hands again, dipped his head, and butted it into my stomach.” There are a lot of identical grammatical structures in this statement. He also makes use of anaphora in one instance by repeating the word ‘with’ in corresponding phrases as highlighted in the statement “A man with no hat and with no shoes and with an old rag tied around his head.”
Putting the book in its context, the story is set in the Victorian era in England. The author applies a lot of imagery to describe the setting of the book in the nineteenth century England. Notably, this age marked the groundbreaking industrial revolution that swept The Great Britain. The drastic economic changes had fueled social changes by the same standard leading to transformations in the fundamental societal structures. The capitalistic ideology that had been established allowed the privileged members of the society to amass a lot of wealth at the expense of the lower classes. It created a wide economic gap between the upper class and the poor, who were exploited and lived in dilapidated conditions. While the capitalist economy allowed one to thrive despite the background form which one hailed, the separation between the two classes became as wide as ever. Charles Dickens mirrors this scope of opportunity in the life of Pip who hails from a relatively disadvantaged background. The protagonist is pictured living in the marsh country where he works in a job he feels uncomfortable in. Driven by the sense of superiority complex that he was destined for better conditions than what he had, he moved to London city where he eventually achieves success. The abrupt rise from a country laborer to a city gentleman are significant pointers to the stream of opportunity that graced this age.
Markedly, Charles Dickens conforms to the bildungsroman style of writing that characterized fictional works in the nineteenth century. In definitive terms, these were novels that depicted the growth and development of the protagonist in the course of the story. This style was prevalent in The Great Britain during the Victorian Era since its inception with the publishing of Wilhelm Meister. It is idealized in the transition of Pip from a boy to a man as the story progresses. The plot flow trails the tale of self-discovery and naturalization of Pip into adulthood. In line with this literary style, we take note of how the thoughts of grandeur and success were instilled in him pushing him to the belief that he would eventually escape from the lower class in the society. He also fantasizes on how he would marry Estella who hails from the upper class of the society. He expects that his change in status would be an influential factor in Estella’s decision to marry him by stating, “perhaps now… she would think twice about me”. Nonetheless, his desire to accomplish his goals is impeded by his arrogance and careless character traits that eventually see him end up in the lower class he had desperately wanted to run away from.
Predictably, the wide gap between the upper and lower classes bred a disturbing pattern of crime throughout the city. Driven by the hatred seeping from a combination of desperation and misery, the poor engaged in crimes. The book characterizes criminals such as Orlick, Magwitch, and Arthur Havishan. Interestingly, the author addresses the topic of criminality from the perspective of the criminals thus picturing them as victims of circumstance. The criminals were an isolated lot that bore the full burden of the law with the book reflecting the distasteful attitude the general public had towards the criminals. Charles Dickens remarks that the treatment of criminals “was horrible, and gave him a sickening idea of London”. Impoverished by the capitalistic ideology, this lot adopted theft as a means of survival. Furthermore, the unjust legal system served to push them back into that kind of life. The injustice in the book is depicted through the character of Jaggers who is an unorthodox and unscrupulous lawyer that fixes evidence to tip the scales of the law in his favor. The theme of injustice is consolidated by the perception drawn on the society. The author animates the city as “polluting and corrupting” He uses personification in describing how he would not let the dirt of the city rub off on him in the statement, “ I will not let that filth and fat and blood and foam seemed to stick to me”. The injustice in the book is a literary allusion to the play by Shakespeare known as Lady Macbeth. In the play she attempts to clear her guilt caused by the blood she spilt in her murderous character.
Summarily, the book Great expectations by Charles Dickens is a reflection of the Victorian era. Classically set in the England of the nineteenth century, the author uses vivid description and imagery to describe the setting of the story. Applying the bildungsroman style which was characteristic of the novels of his age, the author trails the transition of Pip from childhood to adulthood taking note of the character development throughout the phases of his life. We see the protagonist transform from a country laborer into a city gentleman and back to his impoverished origins. The author also makes an argument against the victimization of criminals amidst the unjust legal system. While describing the character of Jaggers, he makes a clear literary allusion to Lady Macbeth from the Shakespeare play.